Tuesday, March 2, 2010

HBR, Define Your Company's Purpose in a Sentence

Great companies have a single purpose that drives them toward success. That purpose is simple, straightforward, and no longer than a sentence. For example, Google's is "We organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," and ING Direct's is "We lead Americans back to savings." This is not a tag line but a single idea that defines the company's reason for existing. Discover what your company is best at and put it into a sentence. Don't settle with being the middle of the road, but strive to be the most responsive, most colorful, or most focused. Then, make sure that everyone in your company knows that sentence and uses it to drive success.Today's Management Tip was adapted from "What's Your Company's Sentence?" by Bill Taylor.